Your Guide for Business & Leisure Travel Experience in South & East Serbia

Infusing authenticity into corporate gatherings

Consider the rich tapestry of  Serbian culture a valuable asset in the event planning endeavors.

Event planners claim that millenial and Gen Z employees prefer  incorporating authentic local culture and tradition into corporate events to cookie cutter events. Unsurprisingly, this practice established new trends in the corporate sphere  with a growing number of corporate events infusing distinctive local cultural and traditional elements into the gatherings. In view of that, Serbia’s distinctive culture and tradition entail a valuable asset for corporate gatherings.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT VENUE

To infuse the aspects of distinctive Serbian culture and tradition into your corporate events, one of the essentials is selecting venues that showcase the tapestry of remarkable Serbian culture. If feasible, stick to venues housed in significant sites or cultural centers. Event planners also advise to host events in the venues close to landmarks or overlooking them. Being a destination management company, BLeisure DMC provides an insight into remarkable venues in Serbia that offer the authentic cultural and historical experiences. 

Our team recommends choosing historical venues in which you would learn interesting facts from Serbian history including renowned Mediana and Felix Romuliana, or for incentives, visiting medieval monasteries laying foundations for Serbian culture like Žiča, Studenica, and Manasija among others or historical sites such as Oplenac, the Karadjordjevic royal family mausoleum, where your attendees can learn more on the dynasty ruling at the tumultuous period of Serbian history. 


Historical venues: Mediana, Nis Fortress, Felix Romuliana

CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN DECOR AND DESIGN

Incorporating traditional Serbian motifs and ornaments into your corporate events adds  a genuinely distinctive local flavor. Opt for customizable spaces to incorporate both interactive and sensory experiences engaging with Serbian culture and tradition. A plethora of options for introducing traditional Serbian motifs and patterns into the event venue are at your disposal. BLeisure DMC suggests a variety of attractive elegant options for incorporating traditional Serbian cultural patterns into the event venue including unique monochromatic national colors (i.e. red, blue or white) inspired table setting with table cloths, napkins, and centerpieces featuring modernized Serbian ornaments and patterns or adding banners, textiles, arches and welcome signages featuring these motifs wherever feasible. Also, space cultivating pieces of folk art create perfect venue decorations, highlighting venue interior per se.

CULINARY DELIGHTS

Ethnologists are of the opinion that Serbian cuisine shaped the country’s cultural identity by reflecting the cultural influences and community bonding through the whole process of food preparation from growing the ingredients to eating habits. The intercultural encounters in the past  made Serbian national cuisine widely acknowledged for serving authentic dishes,  incorporating versatile ingredients and combining various cuisines and cooking styles. Namely, the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian rule significantly influenced Serbian culinary tradition, whereas the discovery of America also made a profound impact on it by introducing peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and maize to Serbian cuisine, thus forming an authentic gastronomic identity through the cultural interplay and the fusion of flavors.

On the other hand, incorporating traditional Serbian dishes into your corporate events is strongly advised since it adds the touch of  distinctive local flavors  and sustainability favored by contemporary corporate professionals. In case you organize a banquet or cocktail, the recommendation is to serve rakia and traditional or tradition inspired appetizers including "proja" (a type of maize bread with cheese, spinach or swiss chard), gibanica (a type of pie made of filo pastry usually filled with cheese, meat, mushrooms or spinach), "kajmak", "ajvar" and prosciutto canapes, fish croquets, or aspic.  Whether you organize a business lunch, dinner or other sort  of  corporate gathering, BLeisure DMC  encourages you to devise a menu inspired by Serbian cuisine combining modern cooking techniques with traditional dishes like broths, "sarma", beans, lamb, carp, barbecue and desserts like strudels, sweet pies, baklavas, "orasnice" or other.

ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES

One option for incorporating Serbian culture into your corporate event is creating a bohemian "kafana" atmosphere that reflects Serbian culture and hospitality. We partner with local entertainers like traditional music performers who encourage the attendees to join the "kolo" dance.

Serbian tradition can also be infused into your corporate gatherings by incorporating interactive, sustainable activities engaging with Serbian culture such as team buildings and incentives entailing Serbian intangible heritage. BLeisure DMC offers incentives involving Serbian customs like Fungry workshops incentives after which your employees or business partners would be capable of preparing traditional meals with locally grown ingredients including appetizers, salads, traditional bread, lunch like barbeque, "sarma" or traditional  desserts like "vanilice", "orasnice" and "pivčići". Yet another engaging Serbian tradition inspired activity offered by our company is the Pirot kilim weaving incentive in which the participants learn about traditional skills of making rugs and their distinctive patterns.


Serbian dance "Kolo" is on UNESCO list of intangible heritage of Serbia

CULTURAL ETIQUETTE AND CUSTOMS

Despite the passage of time, few customs and cultural etiquette practices in Serbian tradition have been preserved and widely acknowledged. Hence, our agency would like to provide an insight into Serbian customs like greetings, toasts or gift giving traditions to help your attendees navigate their social intercourses. Initially, as a practice, the toast emerged as a custom in order to celebrate numerous festive events and has become become applicable to various occasions ranging from childbirth to corporate events, the purpose of which being to wish a good luck to a person, family, or a larger group of people. 

Another practice which has been preserved is the gift giving tradition. Having been the part of the Serbian cultural etiquette, the gift giving practice signifies an expression of bonding, affection and gratitude, expressing the cordiality and hospitality of the local people. Finally, Bleisure DMC invites you to incorporate these customs into your event agenda, recommending giving personalized corporate gits featuring modernized Serbian motifs, colors and ornaments to your attendees.


Indulging in the timeless charm of Nis' kafanas - a cherished tradition that never disappoints.

POST EVENT REFLECTIONS

Reflect on the impact of infusing Serbian culture to your event. Gather feedback from the attendees and consider the sustainability assets. Check how infusing Serbian culture is going to contribute to future your corporate events.

Infusing elements of Serbian culture into your corporate events not only creates an enhanced authenticity, engaging and memorable experience but it also helps preserving Serbian culture and local community sustainability, bringing significant benefits to your business. Having this in mind, BLeisureDMC encourages you to explore the rich tapestry of Serbian culture and consider it a valuable asset in the event planning endeavors.

Reach out to BLeisure DMC for personalized assistance in incorporating Serbian culture into your corporate events.